On Sunday (Feb. 15), the 2026 NASCAR Cup Sequence season will formally kick off with the 68th working of the Daytona 500 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway.
2026 will characteristic a new championship format, a recent schedule, and loads of storylines.
Here is the place the Cup Sequence discipline stacks up forward of the primary of 36 races within the 2026 marketing campaign.
1. Kyle Larson
Larson is coming off his second championship season, and with a brand new championship format in place that may reward each profitable and consistency, he may very well be primed for a repeat. He hasn’t gained a race since Kansas in Could of 2025, but it surely’d be a shock if the No. 5 is not sturdy out of the gates.
2. Denny Hamlin
To say Hamlin had a tumultuous offseason can be a large understatement. From a heartbreaking championship loss, the very public highlight of 23XI Racing’s lawsuit towards NASCAR, the tragic demise of his father, and a re-torn shoulder, the 45-year-old driver was put via the wringer.
However the NASCAR world realized way back to not doubt Hamlin, who gained six races a 12 months in the past. He ought to be a simple lock for the Chase and in title rivalry effectively into the autumn.
3. Christopher Bell
Bell missed out on the Championship 4 in gut-wrenching style in each 2024 and 2025. He is in all probability excited to see NASCAR rid itself of the playoffs and return to the Chase – he led the Cup Sequence with a mean end of 11.2 in 2025, and an identical marketing campaign may yield his first championship.
4. Ryan Blaney
Blaney, the 2023 Cup Sequence champion, has blossomed right into a bona fide famous person over the previous three years, and there is little motive to imagine he’ll fade from rivalry in 2026.
Blaney has gained 10 races during the last three years, although his common end (tenth greatest within the Cup Sequence in 2025) leaves one thing to be desired.
5. William Byron
Like Blaney, Byron has develop into a star during the last three years, making the Championship 4 three straight occasions and profitable 12 races – together with the final two Daytona 500s – over that span.
Byron can develop into the primary driver in historical past to win three consecutive Daytona 500s on Sunday and will simply make the Chase. What he can do as soon as he will get to the postseason may hinge on what number of races he is capable of win within the common season.
6. Chase Briscoe
Not even the most important Briscoe followers may’ve predicted the rise of the Mitchell, Ind., driver in 2025. In his first 12 months with Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe gained three races, together with a second straight Southern 500, and made it to the Championship 4.
Any doubts concerning Briscoe’s skill to step into the sneakers of Martin Truex Jr. have been quelled going into 2026, the place Briscoe will look to complete two spots increased within the championship than he completed a season in the past.
7. Chase Elliott
As he comes off of his first multi-win marketing campaign since 2022, there’s arguably no greater winner in NASCAR’s return to the Chase than Elliott, who has develop into one of the crucial constant drivers within the sport.
Constant race-winning velocity can be good to see from the No. 9 staff, however Elliott ought to be in championship rivalry in 2026 as long as he maintains his mannequin of consistency.
8. Tyler Reddick
Reddick is in an attention-grabbing place going into the 2026 season. His 2025 season was stable – 14 top-10 finishes and a ninth-place factors end – however he did not discover victory lane and was underwhelming for a driver coming off of a Championship 4 look in 2024. 23XI Racing is taking steps in the direction of being a championship-caliber group, but when Reddick is to be the staff’s flag-bearer, he must win once more quickly.
9. Joey Logano
In distinction to Elliott, Logano would be the largest loser from NASCAR’s championship format swap. The three-time champion made a dwelling off of opportunistic efficiency in 2018, 2022 and 2024 en path to his three titles. He’ll want to enhance each his consistency – his common end was Eleventh-best final season – and his profitable tempo if he desires a fourth crown.
10. Bubba Wallace
Wallace regarded like one of the best driver at 23XI in 2025. Not solely did he match Reddick in top-10 finishes (14), he additionally gained the Brickyard 400, scoring his third profession victory. Wallace has steadily enhance over his five-year tenure with 23XI, and his sixth 12 months with the staff appears poised to proceed that development.
11. Alex Bowman
Bowman’s contract with Hendrick Motorsports is up on the finish of 2026. For sure, he wants an enormous season.
Bowman definitely hasn’t been unhealthy throughout his eight years with HMS. He is made the postseason in seven of his eight seasons and gained eight races. However Hendrick drivers are at all times below the microscope, and Bowman has lagged behind in comparison with his teammates in recent times.
A winless season – or worse, one during which he misses the Chase – may doubtlessly spell the tip of his Hendrick tenure.
12. Ryan Preece
Preece did not make the postseason in 2025, however he did have the Twelfth-best common end within the Cup Sequence in his first 12 months with RFK Racing. On the heels of his win within the exhibition Conflict at Bowman Grey, there’s actual momentum behind the No. 60 staff as Preece appears for his first Cup Sequence win and a Chase berth.
13. Ross Chastain
It is tough to make out precisely how good Chastain and the No. 1 staff are. Chastain gained the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 and was comparatively constant, however on far too many events, the No. 1 unloaded for a race weekend woefully off the tempo.
A brand new crew chief for Chastain in former Hendrick Motorsports engineer Brandon McSwain may change that development. Something lower than a season that features a Chase berth can be disappointing for Chastain, who’s looking for his first multi-win season since 2023.
14. Chris Buescher
The Chase ought to favor Buescher, who had the seventh-best common end within the Cup Sequence in 2025. However he hasn’t gained since September 2024 at Watkins Glen, and sooner or later, the No. 17 staff might want to translate their constant top-10 velocity right into a race win.
15. Shane van Gisbergen
Wins now not assure postseason eligibility in NASCAR, however which may not be as huge of an issue as many followers see it to be for highway course ace Shane van Gisbergen.
After profitable 5 highway course races a season in the past, it would not be a shock if SVG ran the desk and gained all 4 highway course races in 2026. Successful three of them and persevering with to enhance on ovals may very well be sufficient to punch his ticket to the Chase.
16. Carson Hocevar
What Hocevar lacks in outcomes, he makes up for in velocity and marketability. The 23-year-old driver signed a contract extension with Spire Motorsports final week that may preserve him with the staff into the 2030s, and that was no accident.
Spire employs a budding famous person in Hocevar behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet, they usually realize it. Even when Hocevar does not make the Chase or get his first profession win, you may be listening to about him all season lengthy.
